


Convergence

by Tashilover



Category: Avatar the Last Airbender - Fandom, Sherlock - Fandom
Genre: AU, Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-09
Updated: 2013-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-04 04:12:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1076393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tashilover/pseuds/Tashilover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With modern day technology, people thought the world didn't need an Avatar anymore. John would have to disagree.</p>
<p>AU crossover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Convergence

John was twenty-two when he realized he was the Avatar. While others may have treated such information with awe, or happiness, or with great relief, John was  _horrified_.

The average age for the Avatar to discover their ability and their destiny was between four and thirteen. It has never been higher than that, it has never been lower than that. And because the world went twenty-two years without their Avatar, everyone assumed he or she had died young and was forced to go through another reincarnation.

John thought it was a cruel joke the universe was playing on him. Why him- Why  _now_? It was too late for him to find masters to teach him bending. It was too late for him to come to accept who he was. He was already planning to go study medicine at university. He was already considering joining the army. He didn't want to drop all his dreams, all his ambitions because  _fate_  suddenly had other plans.

And what of the spirits themselves? The Avatar had a direct link to the spirits, right? In every story of every Avatar, they had constant interactions with the spirits who helped them and guided them along their way. Except nobody came to John.

He didn't have dreams or visions. He didn't speak to creatures only he could see or had a deep connection to animals or nature. Had John not accidentally fire bend his tea one Tuesday morning, he would have never known. His realization came as an  _accident_.

And at the end of the day, what did all of this meant?

He has heard the rants from the anti-bender activists. That the reason why the Avatar has not appeared was because the world did not need an Avatar anymore. With electricity, fire bending was not needed to heat your home. With indoor plumbing, water bending was reduced to mixing your tea. With roads and buildings, earth bending was only allowed in the country. And as the air bender population was still recovering from that awful hundred year war, only one in fifty thousand people were air benders.

Technology made bending nearly obsolete. That one day, like the Avatar, benders will slowly die out too.

So John kept his secret to himself. If the world needed,  _truly_  needed the Avatar, he was confident his day would come. If the world didn't need him, then that was okay too.

 

 

 

 

 

In his younger days, John was actually quite the superb water bender. He often regaled tales of his racing down the local rivers, or starting snow fights in the middle of summer. He talked of how he charmed his dates when it was raining by holding up his arm and bending the water out of their way. He even once stopped a bank robbery by trapping all four criminals in a block of ice.

He still considered himself a force to be reckoned with. But due to his injury and his age, John could not perform full body bends as well as he used to. John never thought he would be one of those people who mourned their youth so often.

Every morning John spent an extra ten minutes in the bathroom. Not bathing, not grooming, not using the toilet. He used that time to heal himself.

He knew he would never be able to fully heal his shoulder. The best he could do nowadays was reduce the pain and ache and cramps. Sherlock knew of this ritual. It was one of the few things he has never bothered John about.

John plugged the drain and turned on the hot water tap. He was going to wait till the water warmed before applying it to his skin. From behind the closed door of the bathroom, he heard the morning news was on. It was white noise at this point. John ignored it, focusing his attention on the water.

He took a step back, adjusted his footing and summoned the water out of the sink to come to his hands. The water drifted around his hands like well-sized gloves, warms and cool at the same time.

Surprisingly, Sherlock suddenly knocked on the door. "John."

"Hmmm?" John was already moving his hands towards his shoulder to begin the healing process. "Yes, what is it?"

"The Avatar has been found."

The water in his hands froze. "WHAT?" He choked, then cursed, smashing his hands down on the sink to break the ice. He wrenched the door wide opened. "What did you say?"

Sherlock was not a bender. Though Mycroft and the rest of his family came from a long line of fire benders, Sherlock was the anomaly. John also learned the Holmes family was part of something called,  _The White Lotus,_  whatever the hell that meant. "It's all over the news," said Sherlock, stepping aside to let John pass into the living room where the telly was on. "An eleven year old Columbian girl."

On the television they repeated the same video clip over and over again. A small, black haired girl bending water and earth like she had been doing it all her life. The movements were small, simple, using her ability to create a tiny mud castle. Once the castle was built, she turned to the camera and smiled, showing off her missing teeth. The recording stopped there.

"No," said John. "That's impossible."

"Why?" Said Sherlock. "She's the right age. And Columbia is known for its earth benders."

"That's assuming the last Avatar is dead!"

"Isn't he? Are all benders born with a sixth sense, telling them when the next Avatar is born? Why are you so adamant this girl isn't the  _One_?"

Even Sherlock knew benders had no way of knowing. John clamped down on his rising emotion. "I don't," he said. "I just... I guess I still believed the last Avatar was somewhere out there."

The clip kept repeating itself as the news anchors said authorities were trying to track down the girl, to see if she was the real deal. Perhaps then they could also find out what happened to the last Avatar, who he was and why did he die so young?

 

 

 

 

 

So these were two options John had: either that girl was the real deal and John's ability to fire bend that one night so many years ago was a hallucination brought on by stress of university.

OR the video clip was fake. That... that was the most likely truth.

There were always rumours of people finding the Avatar. Thousands of websites were dedicated to it, television specials have gone on for years talking about how past Avatars were found and how their ways could be used for modern times. Nobody ever came close, and those who claimed to be the Avatar were ousted within days. This was the first time in a long time somebody got so much recognition. John wondered what it meant.

In the meantime, John was going to wait, see how it things play out. It was not as if he could jump onto a plane and fly all the way to Columbia to have a face to face chat with this supposed Avatar.

"In here," Lestrade instructed, pointing to a room. "All of them, the entire dinner party."

The house they were in was so huge and posh, John wanted to go to the loo to see if the toilet seats were made out of golf. The carpet was pure white, every piece of furniture was made out of heavy wood and possibly elephant ivory. John swore the paintings on the wall were all Monet originals.

Inside of the dinner room, seated around a large decorated table, were ten corpses. No blood, no signs of violence, hands and feet free. There wasn't even food in front of them, except for the fruit bowl sitting in the middle, untouched.

As far as crime scenes go, this one was not the goriest John has seen. In fact it was so clean, John thought Lestrade took them to the wrong room. But as he got closer, he saw why Lestrade called Sherlock in.

Every corpse was missing their face.

" _Fascinating_ ," Sherlock said in a creepy tone. He started inspecting the corpses, poking at the smooth level of skin where the face used to be. "I have never seen a spirit do this before."

"But why?" Lestrade said. "Every time a spirit has taken a human life, it was for a specific reason. According to our sources, none of these people here deserved this. That woman over there has given millions of pounds to charity. That man there was a healer and spent the last ten years in Africa. Why would a spirit take the lives of people who've done nothing wrong?"

"Not all spirits are kind towards humans. But you're right, even the darkest of spirits often have an agenda when taking a human life. Why were these people here?"

"Charity event," said Lestrade. "They were planning some huge party to gather money for the homeless."

"How noble. John, come over here with your water bending, see if... John? John, what's wrong?"

John didn't hear him. All he could focus on were those faceless corpses, those poor people who suffered at the hands of a spirit who played with them like they were dolls. John could feel their horror and helplessness in his  _gut_ , snatching his breath away. His whole world was narrowing down and he thought he might faint.

_Koh_ , his mind supplied the name.

"JOHN!" Sherlock yelled, grabbing him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "What's wrong?"

"Koh," said John shakily. He cleared his throat and tried again, "It's Koh, the Face Stealer."

"Koh?" Lestrade said, stepping forward. "I've heard of him. Didn't the Avatar at one point fight against him?"

Immediately Sherlock pulled out his phone. He looked up the name. After a minute of reading, he said, "This Koh spirit kills for his own pleasure. He targeted these people not because of a personal vendetta against them. He killed them because he found it funny."

"So this isn't a spirit we can appease to," Lestrade said. "I guess I need to get in contact with a few monks."

"Then there is no need for me be here," Sherlock said, grabbing John around the arm and pulling him away. "Call me when you have an  _actual_  mystery for me to solve."

It was not unusual to see Sherlock and John leave a crime scene like it was on fire. When chasing a clue, they were like kids on Christmas morning, eager to get the next piece of information. However, as they passed the other police officers, some did give a wary eye to the way Sherlock practically dragged John behind him, slightly limp and stumbling.

Once outside, away from prying eyes and ears, Sherlock turned to John and grabbed at his face.

"Ow-! Sherlock-!"

"No signs of fever, no blood vessels blown, skin cool," Sherlock said, checking John's forehead and pulling open his eyes. "What happened back there? You zoned out for a few seconds."

What did happen back there? John saw those faceless corpses and suddenly he was gone, transported somewhere else where his body and mind did not exist. The name Koh came to him, like a song long forgotten. Except John was pretty sure he has never heard of this Koh spirit before in his life.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I guess I was just shocked when I saw those poor people. I have never seen anything like this before."

_Nothing like this in this life at least._

"Neither have I," Sherlock said, musing. "But it doesn't matter. If this spirit chooses to go after humans, then Lestrade will have to make an inquiry to Masters to have them take it down. If the Avatar is indeed that young girl, then she is no use to us."

John bit his tongue. Now if that wasn't a sign, he didn't know what was.

 

 

 

 

 

When John discovered he was the Avatar, he was in the middle of mastering his water bending. In university, John had to take extra classes to learn how to heal with his bending along side with modern day medicine. He didn't have time or money to seek out Masters to teach him, let alone Masters who were willing to keep their mouths shut about him.

Now John wished he had. At least then he would have his youth to help him.

Maybe John could master fire bending. But earth and air required movements that were beyond him, movements that weren't barred by age or injury.

In the small space of his room, away from Sherlock's prying eyes, John experimented with a few moves he pulled off of youtube. He wasn't sure what he was trying to achieve with this. Except perhaps to remind himself  _he_  was the Avatar, and what he saw so many years ago was not a bizarre coincidence.

In front of him, sitting innocently on his desk, was a single half-used scented candle. It was a New Year's gift from Mrs. Hudson, who told John the smell would help when Sherlock was doing all of his experiments. John didn't have the heart to tell her the raspberry smell just made things worse.

The candle sat on a desk, a mere five feet in front of him, unlit. On his open laptop, a video clip of a fire bending move played on loop. The video was mute, which was fine; John had subtitles on. The subtitles spoke of how fire benders were full of passion, and to create fire, it must come from the heart.

John stared at the candle, daring it to make a move.

John stepped forward. He grimaced lightly, unused to the different weight change from his water bending stance. He dug deep inside himself to find that fire, focused hotly on the candle, and shot out two fingers towards it, demanding it to be lit.

It wasn't so much a flame that came out of his fingers, but a spark, like a ember popping from a bon fire. The little spitfire jumped from his fingers, onto the candle, lighting it.

Despite himself, John smiled in victory.

 

 

 

 

 

John was eagerly awaiting the news of Lestrade's actions against the spirit Koh. This wasn't the first time Lestrade had to gather Master benders to take down an evil spirit. Just last year a spirit had been snatching children from their beds late at night. A task force was quickly assembled, and a group of water benders and earth followed the spirit into it's lair and waged battle against it. After an hour, the spirit was banished into the other world.

Lestrade used to be a grand Earth bending master himself. Then one day, a few years ago, an anti-bending extremist took a crow bar to his knee. After much surgery and many healing sessions with water benders, Lestrade could walk and run just fine, but his bending would never be the same.

"It'll be fine, John," Sherlock huffed as he scrolled through his phone. "This isn't the first time Lestrade had to take down a spirit."

John knew that, but it still didn't make him feel any better. Something felt off, something deep inside his gut telling him otherwise.

He should be out there, helping them. Even if John had yet to master the other elements, he was still an expert at water bending. The Avatar should be doing this.

Finally, around eight at night, Sherlock's phone buzzed with a new text. He opened it and immediately frowned. "The task force failed," he said. "Four masters are dead. The one left alive is in the hospital. Lestrade wants to meet us there."

 

 

 

 

Kyle Wickam, earth bending master, could barely breath. Nearly every single one of his ribs were broken. So was his right leg, one shoulder and elbow disconnected, a shattered hand, and behind the giant piece of gauze taped over his eye, one eyeball had popped out. Next to him, a young water bender slowly healed him to the best of her ability. Even as Sherlock, John and Lestrade entered the room, she continued, oblivious to their actions.

"Mr. Wickam?" Lestrade said very softly, his voice barely heard above the slow sloshing noises of the water. "Can you hear me?"

"I ...can," Mr. Wickam wheezed tiredly. "How... can I... be of... service?"

"I am Detective Inspector Lestrade, I am the one who gathered the masters together to take down Koh. Are you able enough to tell us what happened?"

"Koh... too strong... took down the... water masters first. Took... their faces."

John's fists tightened. He dug his nails into his palm.

"Tried... to take him down... he was too... fast. Laughed at us..."

"Why did he leave you alive?" Sherlock interrupted him. "There must be a reason why he didn't take your face."

Mr. Wickam took several deep breaths, shuddering at the effort. "He said... only the Avatar can stop him... little girl... too young to... fight... wanted to let... us know... he is not... going... to stop."

"Why now? Did he come because of the Avatar?"

Mr. Wickam tried to speak. His face contorted in pain, gritting his teeth to ground out his next words but was unable to. The water healer stopped. "That's enough," she said. "He's too weak to talk. You can come back tomorrow if he feels better."

Under the stern glare of the water healer they left the room. Once outside, Sherlock twirled to face Lestrade and said, "Why did you bother calling me down here? You didn't need me to talk to the earth bender, you could have done that by yourself."

"I need confirmation, Sherlock."

"Of what?"

"Is that little girl on the telly really the Avatar?"

Sherlock didn't answer immediately. John studied Sherlock's face, trying to see what he was thinking, what he was feeling and got nothing. Of course that little girl wasn't the Avatar, but Lestrade was implying Sherlock knew the truth.

Finally, Sherlock said, "What makes you think I know?"

"Because of Mycroft," Lestrade snapped. "This spirit took down  _five_  masters. Now, I can gather another task force but something tells me that is not going to work. I need confirmation, and I am sure you know the truth. Is that little girl the Avatar?"

"Do you plan to have her face Koh?"

"Jesus Christ, of course not. Avatar or not, she's not even ten years old yet."

"Then why?"

" _Because if she's not, then does your brother know who is_?"

Just step forward. Tell them who you are. Why are you hesitating, why are you keeping your silence? People are dying, you stupid-

"No," said Sherlock. "That little girl is not the Avatar. It was confirmed yesterday, they'll make the announcement on the news later on, I'm sure. But Mycroft doesn't know who is."

Lestrade looked away as if in pain. Frustration was outlined on every wrinkle of his face, making him look twenty years older. "So, we really have been abandoned."

John nearly choked.

 

 

 

 

 

One would think the holiest place in all of England would somewhere near Buckingham Palace. Or perhaps near the Tower of London. Though it was true those places welded a certain amount of spiritual power, the holiest place in all of England was a single tree near Canterbury.

According to legends this tree was over five thousand years old. The tree was blocked off from the general public with stone walls, and only those who made an appointment were allowed access and those had to be made months in advance.

"Do you have an appointment?"

Of course John didn't. He could be on the waiting list for years. "I don't."

"Then I'm sorry, sir, but you need-"

"But you allow air benders in, right?"

Anyone who was an air bender or gave birth to an air bender got certain privileges, including tax breaks, special schools, and access to otherwise private areas.

The woman raised a disbelieving eyebrow at John. " _Are_  you an air bender?"

John had been watching air bending moves on youtube all morning. He managed to shoot out a small stream of air, but it was so weak he wasn't confident he could do it again. Not without a few more days of training. John took a slow breath, positioned his feet, took a stance and punched.

The tiniest, most pathetic-looking whirlwind came out. It kicked up a few leaves before dissipating.

The woman was clearly unimpressed but said, "Alright. Come right in." She signaled to a couple of earth benders, pointing to John.

The earth benders brought down a wall, allowing him to pass through. Once he did, they erected it back up, leaving John to be alone with the tree.

Well, not entirely alone. There were a few others here. A small set of air nomads were sitting in one far corner. A few water benders were meditating in the other. One fire bender was bowing, begging for forgiveness for what his nation had done three generations ago.

The signs said people were allowed on the grass, but not allowed to actually touch the tree. If any of them touched the tree, they would be evicted immediately and banned for life.

John stepped on the grass, well aware the earth and metal benders were watching his every move. He sat down, crossing his legs. He put his fists together in the classic meditation pose and closed his eyes. He breathed in, and breathed out.

He waited.

He tried to keep a quiet, calm mind, tried to think of Avatar stuff, and yet little stupid thoughts like, 'My elbow itches' and 'I smell food' kept popping into his mind. He scowled, wasn't the Avatar suppose to be a natural at this?

"Please," he said, out loud. He wondered if he should keep quiet and not alert everyone around him to his conversation. "I need help. Koh is not going to stop unless  _I_  stop him. I don't even know if I can stop him. I..."

He opened his eyes.

Avatar Kira was looking back at him.

Kira was thirteen when it was discovered she was the Avatar. Blonde, blue-eyed gal from Alabama. Her accent was so thick at times, people often could not understand her. She spent most of her Avatar career not fighting wars, but using her gifts to erect schools and hospitals. When a town in Malaysia was wiped out due to a severe hurricane, she helped rebuilt the town within a  _week_.

"Hello, John," she said sweetly. "I was wondering if we were ever going to talk."

"I... I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Very few of us have ever taken on the burden of Avatar with open arms. You're no exception."

"I am ready now, to take on the responsibility," John urged, leaning forward. "But I fear it's too late to master all four elements."

"It is never too late," Kira said. "The problem with you, John, is that you forget you're not alone in this. You've never been. Be careful of Koh. He is a cruel spirit and many past Avatars have tried to kill him. He will not be merciful towards you. When the time is right, call for our help and we will come."

Like a million little leaves blowing in the wind, Kira's body shimmered brightly and disappeared right before John's eyes. John wondered where she was going, and feared for the same ultimate fate for himself.

He didn't feel better. He didn't feel better  _informed_. And yet at the same time, he didn't feel so alone in this. At least he knew the other Avatars were watching out for him, ready to come to his side if need be.

His phone dinged. John had told no one where he was going or why. It was probably Sherlock demanding John to be in his presence in the next five minutes. Well, he was half-right.

_Where are you? Mycroft's forces has Koh cornered. Sending address._

 

 

 

 

 

It took forever to get back to London. Getting to London was one thing, getting  _into_  London was another. Entire streets had been closed down, people evacuated and more than once, John had to sneak past military forces, high-level benders and a few chi-blockers. Mycroft was taking no risk at this, he was going all out.

Maybe... maybe he could pull this off. Maybe John didn't need to be involved.

John shook his head of that thought. No, he was going to see this through. No more running.

The address brought him to a building still under construction. The first few floors were finished but as the top levels had nothing but naked support beams and flapping tarps. Standing in front of the building, looking up at it was Mycroft. Sherlock was nowhere to be seen. "Mycroft!"

At John's shout, immediately every single gun and bender were pointing their artillery right at him, ready to shoot if John dared to take a second step. Mycroft merely raised a hand to halt them. "Sherlock wanted to wait for you," Mycroft said as John trotted to him. "But he was too eager."

"Eager, what are you talking about?"

"My little brother has never experienced a spirit before, especially not one as old and dangerous as Koh. He wanted to interrogate him before my benders evaporate it."

"Are you insane?" John yelled. "That spirit took down five masters, what makes you think Sherlock and your own personal  _posse'_  can do better?"

"He's in there now with ten masters. If something does happen, one of the earth benders will get him out of there within a second. We have never faced a spirit like Koh before, it is imperative to gain as much information as we can before we destroy him."

"You have no idea what you're dealing with," John hissed. He tried to move past him, to go inside. Three guards move in front, blocking his path, holding up their hands and shaking their heads. "Let me through."

"I'm sorry, John, but this is highly sensitive moment. I cannot allow you to upset the conversation."

"No, you don't understand, I have to get in there, let me through!"

"Why should I?"

" _Because I'm the Avatar!_ "

He said it loud enough to catch a number of ears around them. Talking ceased, guards, and benders alike dropped their stance and just stared at John, mouths gaped open. Even Mycroft, who never once showed his surprise or shock in all the time John has known him, took a step back in response.

 

 

 

 

 

They strung Koh up like he was a bug in a spider's web. Giant pieces of rock forced him against the wall, pinning him there, while frozen water kept his millions of legs still. The water and earth benders were constantly readjusting their stances, making sure Koh didn't move not one damn inch. Four fire benders were standing by, ready to shoot lightning if needed.

Everyone was wearing masks.

There were no air benders in sight. John guessed not even the all powerful Mycroft could find enough air benders to form his dream team.

Sherlock was in the middle of it all, staring up at Koh. He wore no mask to hide his face.

He was expressionless when he spoke. "What is the point of stealing a human face?"

"Because it is the most valuable part of the human body," Koh said, sighing romantically. He gave no heed to the other benders or to the elements binding him. "The eyes are the window to the soul, the mouth betrays your emotions and your concept of beauty always resolves around the face. Money doesn't matter. Power doesn't matter. If you have someone's face, you own the world."

With that statement, a second skin filtered over Koh's spirit face. When it reopened, a woman's face had replaced it. "I was once the Avatar's love," Koh spoke through this dead woman's voice. "And when I took her face, the Avatar went insane with madness. Not even the great Avatar is exempt from my power."

John chose that moment to step out of the shadows. "He should have killed you when he had the chance."

Sherlock twisted around, eyes wide with surprise. "John," he hissed. "You shouldn't be here without a mask!"

Even Koh blinked at him. "Well, well, well..." Koh said. "It's been centuries since we last saw each other, Avatar."

Sherlock went deadly still. John wanted to apologize, to tell him he had not intended to lie for so long. This wasn't the time or the moment for it. Instead, John shook his head, and motioned to Sherlock to keep his calm.

Sherlock looked like he wanted to argue. He swallowed, bit the inside of cheeks, and said nothing. He didn't dare turn around, his face was too pinched to be considered safe.

Though John couldn't tell, he expected the other benders were just as shocked. Their heads were all turned towards him, their movements halted.

The pause was just enough for Koh. His face shifted back, and he shot forward, breaking through his elemental prison. Chunks of ice and rock fell upon the Masters, crushing one water bender, while the others scrambled to dodge it.

"Sherlock, get out of here!" John yelled, running towards Koh, summoning water to him.

Koh scurried across the floor like a snake, his million little legs rapping loudly on the floor. He was going too fast to hit. Water, fire and rock flew over him, missing him by a mile. Even John couldn't hit him. By the time he struck with one of his water whips, Koh was already gone from that spot.

Koh went after the fire benders first. He struck them with his body, knocking them off their feet. When they landed, their masks either fell off, or shifted just enough for their baffled, stunned expression to be seen.

"NO!" John shot out a stream of cutting water. Koh jumped over the stream, lost  _one_  leg to it, and dove at the fire benders.

It was over within a blink of an eye. Koh took their faces, leaving behind a flat surface of flesh. The poor fire benders lived long enough to touch their stolen faces. John could see in their body language when they realized what happened. Their arms flailed in a panic, scratched at fleshy flat surface, drawing blood. They pointed to their throats, indicating they were suffocating. They shuddered, collapsed, and died.

"EVERYBODY, JUST GO, LEAVE HIM TO ME!"

John had no fucking clue if he could even take on Koh. If a room full of experienced benders couldn't get a hit on him, what made him think he, an unexperienced Avatar, could do? He didn't know, and he didn't care. He didn't want anybody else dying on him.

The benders thankfully listened to him. John did not bother to see them go. He stared at Koh, locking eyes with him, daring him to make a move.

Koh was up on the ceiling, coiled tightly in a corner, watching John with amusement. "I have never killed an Avatar before," he said cooly. "I consider this an honour, thank you."

"We don't have to kill each other," John said. Maybe he could get Koh to leave peacefully. "Go back to the spirit world and I will not pursue you."

Koh smirked. Slowly he uncurled himself, lowering himself to the floor. For those few seconds, John thought Koh would actually cooperate.

"I cannot," Koh suddenly said, his face shifting. A tarantula's image emerged from him, all eight beady eyes staring. Two large fangs dripped with venom as he spoke, " _That one over there is still looking."_

Sherlock.

John didn't have to turn to know it was him. Weren't one of the benders assigned to keep him safe? Did Sherlock run back inside? It didn't matter, John should've known.

Koh shot out with immense speed, catching John off guard, charging past him, going straight for Sherlock.

Sherlock brought out a gun, and fired rapidly at Koh. The bullets bounced off Koh's hide, never once slowing him down. If anything, it only spurred him to go faster. He struck Sherlock across the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Never once giving Sherlock a chance to even blink, Koh twisted his body around him like snake with a mouse, squeezing him tighter and tighter. Koh lowered his face to Sherlock's, his mouth wide opened and teeth bared.

There was no way John was going to get there in time. He was too far away, too slow. He was going have to watch Koh take his best friend's face while he stood there like an idiot. Even with all the power in the world, John could do nothing.

_When the time is right, call for our help and we will come._

Fifteen thousand years have passed since the first Avatar. Since then, with each new generation, each Avatar has added their power to the next reincarnation. They added their wisdom, their knowledge, their abilities, their hope. It didn't matter if John had only mastered one element. He called, and they came.

In a moment, all of their minds were one. Their hearts, their souls. John blinked and his eyes glowed with the experience of fifteen thousand years.

Koh didn't see the right punch coming.

His mouth was wide open, pencirs ready to snap down. A flame-covered fist struck him across the jaw, disloging it, encasing his entire head with fire. Koh screamed in pain, his entire body seizing at once. Sherlock fell through his loose grip, and toppled to the floor, gasping for air.

Immediately a wave of water carried him back, away from danger.

Koh flailed, his legs kicking wildly as he tried to upright himself. Once he did, he looked up at John, jaw hanging loose, too stunned to speak.

John was elevated from the ground in a whirlwind of water, earth and air. When he spoke, generations upon generations shared his voice. " _Koh, you have caused the deaths of dozens of innocent humans. And for that, you must pay the ultimate price._ "

He moved his arms together, swirling the elements above him, twisting them into a spear. He reared his arm back, brought it forward-

Koh screamed, "I am a spirit, you dirt-eating swine! I am eternal, I am forever, I am Koh-!"

His rant was cut off when the spear sliced him right down the middle.

 

 

 

 

 

John could hear helicopters. Outside of the window, down below, he could hear dozens and dozens of voices, people calling out to him, asking him where has he been, why it took so long for him to get here. He could also hear the police trying to keep them back from running through the front doors.

He didn't dare go near the window. When he first walked into Mycroft's office and casually looked outside, nearly every single person on the street screamed.

Sherlock had yet spoken a word to him.

John let him. He had his own problems to worry about.

"Congratulations, Avatar John," Mycroft said as soon as he walked through the door to his office. "You broke the internet."

"What happens now?" John asked. Despite it all, he felt oddly calm.

"I don't know. I've never interacted with an Avatar before. I suppose it all comes down to what you want to do. It's not as if I have any  _power_  to stop you."

Oh, he was bitter by the whole thing. "I had no intention of hurting anyone," John said. "I just wanted to live my own life."

Now that was a line Mycroft heard all his life. How many arguments did he have with Sherlock, over that same subject?

"I'm actually quite surprised it took you this long to figure out it was him," Sherlock suddenly said, speaking up for the very first time. "It was so obvious."

What.

Mycroft jerked. "You  _knew_?"

"Of course I knew, I knew since day one."

John gaped. He had no memory of ever using another element other than water in front of Sherlock. So how did he-?

"You talk in your sleep," Sherlock said, giving John a dull look. "You really should do something about that."

 

 

 

 

 

"You're not angry?"

"No, just surprised. I thought you would come to accept your fate a lot quicker."

"So this whole time when you talked about the Avatar..."

"I wanted to see your reaction. You go very red when you're startled."

"You know what this means, right? I can't stay at Baker Street. Now that the world knows, I will have to finally take on the responsibilities the last Avatar left me."

"Of course. This was going to happen sooner or later. You do realize I'm coming with you."

"Wha-? You are?"

"Of course I am. You and me, John. Against the world? It's going to be  _epic_."

"Heh. Team Avatar has come together once more."

"Ugh, don't ever say that again."

John smiled. "Alright."


End file.
